PHILADELPHIA — Starting pitchers on contending teams are dropping left and right. It would be a perfect time to be a veteran starting pitcher who can skate through the waiver process and be eligible to be traded in August.

A.J. Burnett fits all of those requirements. Then there is that final factor that plays a part in a trade going down: The available veteran has to get some people out.

That’s where the Phillies have a problem.

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For the fourth time in five starts since the All-Star break, Burnett had a dud outing. And for the second time in two weeks the Mets were the team battering him about, running up 11 hits in six innings against him. The runs they got against Burnett barely held up, as the Phillies tried to rally in the ninth only to see it fall short in a 5-4 loss at Citizens Bank Park.

Burnett went into the All-Star break with a 3.83 ERA and was among the league leaders in innings pitched. Since the break, things have unraveled. He has a 6.66 ERA in his last five starts, and that number forgives the four generously scored unearned runs he allowed to the Nationals last weekend when he was ejected in the second inning of an 11-0 loss.

While Burnett was having a dud outing, the Tigers lost starter Anibel Sanchez to an arm injury as they try to hold onto the A.L. Central lead. A few weeks ago Burnett would have been someone Detroit would pursue without blinking. At this point, he seems like a risky choice.

Bartolo Colon, meanwhile, was brilliant, going eight innings, with Marlon Byrd’s solo homer to open the seventh the only blemish.

The Phillies came to life as soon as Colon left the game in the ninth. Chase Utley smoked a double and Ryan Howard worked a four-pitch walk against southpaw Dana Eveland, forcing Mets manager Terry Collins to call on closer Jenrry Mejia.

After Marlon Byrd singled to load the bases, Grady Sizemore slammed a ball to right that seemed it might be the second straight late-inning grand slam for the Phils. However, it didn’t have enough height and thudded against the fence about four feet short of a game-tying shot. Still, a pair of runs scored and there were no outs, the tying run in scoring position.

Carlos Ruiz, however, flew out to shallow right, Cody Asche grounded out to score Byrd, and Reid Brignac had a pair of strike calls he didn’t like as plate ump Mike Winters rung him up to end the game.

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For the ninth straight game, Domonic Brown was not in the starting lineup. The first handful of those came while he struggled with throat and tonsil issues. However, Brown has been cleared for action most of this week.

According to Sandberg, the reason he stuck with Grady Sizemore in left was simple: The Phillies just swept the Astros.

“I don’t want to mess with something that’s going good,” Sandberg said. “He’ll get another day of batting practice under his belt.”

While Brown is younger (he turns 27 in four weeks) than Sizemore (31), it is a tad ridiculous to keep referencing Brown as a young player. This is his ninth professional season and he has more than 3,800 plate appearances as a pro. Brown certainly will get back in the starting lineup, but Sandberg and the Phillies also are assessing what they might have in Sizemore.

“We’ll give him a number of at-bats and see what he looks like for the future,” Sandberg said of Sizemore before Friday night’s game. “He’s part of a lineup that has won three straight, so that’s a part of it also.”

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The Phillies will induct Charlie Manuel into the Wall of Fame Saturday as part of the alumni weekend festivities. Jim Thome made an appearance at the ballpark Friday and will be among several former Phillies who played under Manuel in town for the ceremony.